Addiction is a complex illness with multiple contributing factors. It is pain management gone awry. Almost always more than one factor exists.

Addiction often progresses over time, as the addictive object (drug or behavioral experience) progressively alters the brain’s reward circuitry, leaving people feeling worse after each episode of addicting. This is why repeated, heavy exposure to the additive object can lead to addiction even in those less vulnerable to addiction.

Since the brain (especially the frontal lobes) does not fully mature until the mid-twenties, adolescents exposed to addictive substances are at greater risk of developing addiction. This is because the developing frontal lobes are more vulnerable to the damage caused by exposure to addictive substances.

Is Addiction a “Disease?”

Is addiction a disease? The answer depends on how you define “addiction.”

People disagree as to whether addiction is a brain disease or just a maladaptive behavior. Some think of addiction as a spectrum condition ranging from mild to severe. At the mild extreme are behaviors that bring gain along with some sort of pain, such as eating that extra serving of dessert every night and putting on extra pounds. Many can stop this unhelpful behavior when the extra sweets aren’t worth the extra pounds. They can “unlearn” their maladaptive behavior, replacing it with more adaptive behavior, such as just a bite or two of dessert. These people do not suffer the disease of addiction as defined here.

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